Success Journeys

Introduction & Programs ~ Starting Out; Some Basics ~ Success Journeys ~ Accelerate Your Learning ~ Time: Your Most Valuable Asset ~ How to Feel Good All the Time ~ How to Overcome Self‑Interference ~ A Few Health Basics ~ Cause & Effect ~ Additional Articles

Here is knowledge to enable you to become more successful, earn more money, feel good, enjoy great health (while cutting your health bills), and extend your life...

Success Journeys

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Why Do People Fail?

There has been much written, and said, about why and how people succeed. The contention being that, in order to succeed, you must learn, and then apply, the principles and techniques used by others who have gained success.

But, knowing the principles and techniques used by others who have gained success doesn't qualify a person to succeed. If it did, all of those who have read and studied the various, and many, books, booklets, plans, and programs on the subject of SUCCESS would, by virtue of their knowledge thereof, be successful.

Statistically, 98% of the people in this country never reach a level of anything more than sustained mediocrity; only 2% ever really achieve success. -- WHY?

These people (the 98%) are so wrapped-up in "protecting" and "maintaining" the level of mediocrity they have achieved that they will not risk one iota of what they have. [See Programmed for Mediocrity.]

It's like the young boy who, at long last, got his first pair of really fine shoes.

Now, these shoes were exceptionally fine. So fine, in fact, that the boy spent many hours wiping and shining them - while keeping them safe from scuffs, neatly wrapped in paper, in their box under his bed.

A number of opportunities presented themselves for the boy to wear the shoes, but he chose to safe-guard them and wore his older shoes instead. After all, if he wore them, he would run the risk of scuffing them or dulling their glittering shine.

When the day finally arrived, when the occasion was most important, the boy learned, to his disappointment, that his feet had grown and the shoes no longer fit him. (I gave that pair of shoes to a more needy neighbor -- and, from that day forward, I have never again been afraid to lose anything.)

Unfortunately, most people are like that boy. -- They read all of the books, booklets, plans, and programs about the principles and techniques used by others to gain success. As the boy did with the shoes, they let the opportunities to use what they have learned pass them by -- or, they make a half-hearted start, but never continue past their first small and futile attempts.

Why do they hold back? -- Because they fear losing what little they have. They "protect" their meager and mediocre position so well that they never lose it.

At retirement age, those people look back with pride at the fact that they have ventured little and lost nothing. But, not unlike the boy and his shoes, they learn, to their disappointment, that that which they protected so well will not sustain them after their retirement and they are forced to seek aid and assistance from their government, family and friends.

Those people have never "qualified" for anything better, because they have never "paid their dues."

If you haven't, yet, gained success, look around you. What are you protecting? If you lost it all tomorrow, would you really lose anything of great value?

People fail, not because they cannot succeed, but because they are unwilling to risk what they have. They "protect" their mediocrity until it is all they have left.

The struggle to achieve success is not unlike any great battle in any war. -- The victorious army is always the one that gives up the position it has won in order to advance against a better, more advantageous position. Only the losing army stands and defends a mediocre position.

A young Lieutenant once asked a wise General, "Why should we try so hard to reach a position at the top of the hill? As we charge up the hill, our enemies will surely take the positions behind us, and we will lose what we have gained; even if we take the hill."

The General, a very wise man, replied, "Yes -- but, it is much easier to charge downhill. When we have taken the higher position, we will charge back down the hill and recover all that we have lost. Then, we will charge down the other side of the hill."

The people who make up the 2% who achieve success are forever charging up the hill -- losing all behind them -- and then charging back down the hill, on both sides, to regain anything they may have lost and achieve even more success.

Not unlike the losing army, most people will never succeed, because it would mean that they would have to give up the mediocre position they have protected for so long.

In order to succeed, you must first "lose" your mediocrity. -- Success doesn't happen any other way.

You Gotta Do It!

Most people who say they want to succeed, go around all their life looking for some "secret" that people like me are sure to know. They just know that if they ever learn that "secret" they will be successful, too. -- Ain't gonna happen because there ain't any secret.

All they need to do is start "doing" something. -- That's all it takes. -- Once they start "really" doing something ... other than searching for the "secret" to success ... whatever they are doing will expand and grow into the success for which they couldn't find the secret.

Over the past nearly 50 years in business, I have heard it thousands upon thousands of times from "success secret seekers" ...

"I ain't gonna get into no nickle and dime business. I want to make millions, not nickles and dimes."

So, they keep buying what they think are "secrets." They never "do" anything, longer than it takes to find out they didn't learn any secrets, they just learned how to "work" at something ... instead of making them rich. Then, they go on to the next "secret," hoping against hope that the new secret will "give" them the riches they seek (without doing anything other than knowing the "secret").

The funny thing is, they all seem to think they are better than me ... and all the other successful people ... because they honestly think that I just woke up one morning, learned the secret, and made a fortune. When, in pure fact, I started selling nickle and dime items, door to door, in my youth ... selling one item to one customer, one sale at a time, making a nickle or a dime on each sale.

As I matured, my endeavors expanded and grew ... changed course ... adapted to the ever changing economy ... moved onward and upward. Each instance of my growth predicated upon providing what my potential customers needed or wanted. Making sure that I gave more value in return for the value I received - and - even today, I still sell one item to one customer, one sale at a time.

The VAST MAJORITY of people who say they want to succeed, only want to succeed if they can make it all at once ... just one sale won't do it. They want big sales, or thousands of sales, immediately. -- So, when a new opportunity only produces a few sales, they move on rather than making those few sales over and over and over and over ... until those few sales have grown into thousands upon thousands of sales.

Most of them are looking for someone to help them do it, rather than looking for the tools they need to do it themselves.

If you want to succeed, "do" something. Let what you are "doing" lead you onward and upward until you have the success you seek. -- There are NO "secrets" to it.

P.S. -- Many people know the facts. -- Many people have the talent. -- Many people have the need. -- Many people have what it takes. -- But ... very, very few succeed because they are seeking the "secret" to success rather than doing something.

Whiners Vs. Doers

That gurus owe them freebie products and maybe if they succeed they'll fork over money.

These people have a victim attitude about life. They are the VICTIMS of gurus or other people. They do NOT take responsibility for their own actions.

They spend $5,000, $10,000, $50,000 and have NOT made a dime and it's all someone else's fault.

You know why a lot of "gurus" don't enjoy the guru business? Because of people who blame the guru for their lack of success. Just like blaming the President or the economy if you don't have a job.

If this is YOU, you do NOT need to buy anything from me. You need to do one and only ONE thing.

Go buy Atlas Shrugged. It's at your bookstore. Buy it new. Buy it used. Read every page. Yeah, it's a LOT of pages. That's because you NEED a lot of pages to get this stinkin' thinkin' out of your brain.

Ain't no Internet marketing book, course, seminar or system gonna help you. Go read Atlas Shrugged.

Are You A Dabbler?

Over the past 50 years, I have been thrilled and delighted to see hundreds of people succeed in business -- but -- I have watched sadly as literally thousands of people have achieved little or no success.

There are a multitude of common characteristics among those who succeed -- but -- there seems to be only one glaring common characteristic among those who achieve little or no success. That characteristic is simply never deciding upon one single plan of action and sticking with it day-in and day-out. They never achieve any success by doing a little of this, a little of that. -- They are, in effect, dabblers in business.

Back in 1987, a young man in Arkansas bought one of my $10 reports. It wasn't a fancy business idea but the young man took the idea and did it; over and over through thick and thin. Today, it still produces from $25,000 to $30,000 per month for him... he calls it his bread and butter business.

From his bread and butter business, he had money enough to pursue bigger and bigger business deals. -- Today, he is no longer a young man... but he is a multi-millionaire; many times over. -- SO...

If you really, truly, honestly and sincerely want to succeed, pick one business. Keep doing it day-in and day-out... even during the tough times when the business appears to be failing. That's when your success will begin... it's also when most people quit.

There are very, very few opportunities that couldn't be the "best" for someone. It is all a matter of persistence.

Look around you. There are millionaires in every field of business endeavor. There are millionaire garbage collectors... millionaire bankers... millionaire shop keepers... millionaire day-care operators... millionaire Internet marketers... etc., etc., etc.

As Albert Einstein said, "Anyone can be a genius, if they pick just one specific subject and study it diligently just 15 minutes each day."

The same holds true in business. -- Just pick one specific business. Do it every day until you do it successfully.

Most people don't fail, they just fail to stick with any ONE thing until they have mastered it.

Denial Of Incompetence (and/or Stupidity)

I offered this person the opportunity to participate in a "Success Journey," but received no response.

Many people have been programmed for jobs where they are told what to do -- "step-by-step guidance" -- but to fail if they try something where they have to think for themselves -- see Dumbed Down by "Education" and Programmed for Mediocrity.

This article could have been titled simply: "DENIAL OF STUPIDITY." If someone has tried for years to make money online, without success, does that imply incompetence, stupidity, or both? When the correspondent writes, "I am not stupid," does that imply the denial of incompetence, stupidity, or both?

Stupidity and its denial could be a "Make-or-Break Issue" (MBI) for many people -- something you need to confront and handle first, in order to improve your life, health, finances, etc. You may want to get and study at least the first of the following books:

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

You may want to Google "stupidity" and "overcoming stupidity." Andy Green who was featured in an article in the Yorkshire Evening Post on 22nd July 2009. Green says:

It may be important to realize that the profits of some corporations -- particularly drug companies -- depend partly or largely on the stupidity of their customers -- see A Few Health Basics.

If you read Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth about the American Voter by Rick Shenkman, you could ask: "To what extent does the political power of those at the top depend on the stupidity of voters?"

When political commentators say, "The public is intelligent (or isn't stupid)," are they lying through their teeth -- or are they stupider than the public?

Chapter 9 of Shenkman's book is titled: "We Can't Even Talk About How Stupid We Are."